A Scattered Heart
by xXnekoneechanXx
Summary: When ten years old, life isn't easy for prince Rasler. Between lessons both in academic subjects and manner and combat training he often flees into the nearby Salikawoods. There he meets one day a mysterious teenager who will change his life drastically from now on.
1. Chapter 1

The Salikawoods. An old deciduous forest, even judged by the folk of the Viera, who themselves were ancient, already belonging to Ivalice long before the other races were born. It was a peaceful sanctuary for those who inhabited it as well as for those some Hume who crossed it, for the creatures of the forest weren't hostile, when left alone. Therefore the only sounds you could hear, would you take some time to listen, were the chirping of foreign birds, the wind whistling through the leaves and sometimes a lone cry of a hare calling for its pups.

But on this fateful morning, while the sun shone down on the canopy of leaves, painting the world below in an emerald green, this heavenly silence was crudely interrupted by the clash of metal on metal and the battle cries of Hume. On the southern border of the Salikawoods lay the city of Nabudis, the capital of the Kingdom of Nabradia. Here the Hume were less inclined to savor the quiet provided by the neighboring wilderness, in favor of steeling their bodies and toning their reflexes. For this was no match till death but a mock fight, supposed to prepare the younger of the two combatants for the oncoming war.

But it was more torture than training. The master beat relentless away with his broadsword, coming down on his student again and again, while said youth - more like a child, not even old enough to be called a teen - was barely able to even lift his own weapon for protection. With a final blow the weathered warrior knocked his opponent's sword away and threatened him with the point of his own.

After a long moment frozen in that posture, the winner slightly panting but standing his ground and the loser wheezing for air, sagged to the ground, the master withdrew his sword to sheath it, frowning at his student.

"Your performance is pathetic, your Highness. If you keep that up, you'll be the first to fall in combat."

"But I don't want to fight!" replied the boy, falling from his sitting position back into a lying one, still trying to catch his breath.

"You have no other choice. With the threats from both north and south, our kingdom is bound to get caught in the crossfire. The tensions between Arcadia and Rozzaria are getting worse by the minute. It is your duty as prince of Nabradia to be able to defend your people!"

The harsh tone of the sword master hit the boy like a slap to the face. He looked away, biting his lip. He thought it unfair to be forced to do daily combat training added to all his other lessons when all he wanted to do, was playing like the other children his age or exploring the streets of Nabudis or even the woods. He just wanted to act the child he really was. But to his misfortune he was also Rasler Heios Nabradia and second in line for the throne. Though his older brother would one day be king, he himself had many obligations, too. He knew that very well. That It was also the reason he kept his mouth shut in situations like this. It wasn't the first time he argued with his teacher. Malek, though very strict and rough at the edges, just had his best interests at heart, or so he hoped. Nevertheless, it didn't change the fact that young Rasler wasn't getting better at all. It was frustrating. And he told his teacher so. More than once. But the answer was always the same: He wasn't trying hard enough. Was it just that simple? That his efforts really weren't sufficing?

"Stand up, you have rested enough." Malek prompted, already unsheathing his sword again. Rasler looked at him incredulously, really hoping that his teacher was just joking. Upon realizing that it regrettably wasn't like that, he groaned.

"Why? Can't we continue tomorrow? I'm tired."

He knew he wouldn't get anywhere with that, but he might as well try. As expected the sword master shook his head.

"In a real fight your opponent wouldn't let you rest at all. He would take advantage of any carelessness." he reasoned.

"But this isn't a real fight!"

With that little energy he had left, Rasler picked himself up and turned away.

"Where do you think you're going? Your lesson isn't over yet." Malek inquired, voice dangerously low.

"That doesn't concern you. I'm leaving." the young prince replied, leaving the training area.

"Lord Rasler, return this moment. We aren't done yet!" The master attempted to follow his student, but the youth picked up his pace and took some random turns in the corridors of the palace. Knowing the layout far better than the older -who only entered the palace for his duties- the boy vanished in seconds. Soon Rasler was walking down a secret pathway that, he knew, would lead him outside of Nabudis and into the Salikawood.

It was only by chance that he found this corridor. Not unlike now, he was on the run from one of his teachers. But unlike today, back then he'd been only been a toddler and not able to outrun any of the adults. So he tried to hide behind one of the many tapestries lining the walls of the palace. Incidentally he had the fortune to crawl behind the one of them all that hid a little gap in the massive wall. One that slight that you wouldn't even notice it, even if you'd beat against the tapestry with a sword. Little Rasler now, who fell into the gap by accident, wasted any no more thoughts on why there was a path in the first place or if anyone knew of it as well. He sprung to his feet and ran, following this passage to its other end.

It had been the first time the boy saw the Salikawoods and though he didn't dare to walk into it farther than ten feet, he instantly fell in love with it. And since then he always visited the forest when he needed distance from his life in the palace.

Now Rasler visited the forest once more and walked down his little route he had in his frequent explorations trampled down to an actual track through the woods. He kicked a rock he had found near the entrance to his secret path. But today he didn't pay as much attention to his surroundings as on other occasions. His thoughts strayed always back to his combat lessons.

"He's always hacking away at me."

He kicked the stone forward.

"It's as if I'm his punching bag or something."

Kick.

"Like an outlet for his aggressions."

Kick.

"Maybe he doesn't even care, if I learn anything."

Snap.

The boy halted his leg just as he was about to kick the rock once more. Apparently he had been a little too loud and observing his surroundings a little too less. Even though the monsters minded their own business when left alone, they attacked if you crossed their path.

Turning around slowly he found himself face to face with a malboro, a slimy beast with many tentacles and even more teeth. All of its eyes, that which were placed on some of the tentacles and draped around that gaping hole of a mouth like a circle, were fixed on the boy. He was so terrified that he couldn't move, even if his sanity told him to run, run away until he's save back home. But all he managed was shifting back with one foot and that little movement alone was all encouragement the beast needed to attack. With a growl it advanced, ready to spew its poisonous slime onto the prince and gulp him down whole. He fell back on his backside, too horrified to scream. Squinting his eyes shut he had no other choice but to wait for his end.

But the blow never came. Instead he heard a blade being unsheathed and the sick squishing sound of steel gliding through flesh. So his teacher must have found him after all. But when he pried his eyes open there he saw no Malek, not even a weathered warrior at all. Instead there stood with his back half turned to him a teen not older than fifteen, with his back half turned to him with and his long blond hair bound into a high ponytail. His bangs covered his eyes as he cleaned his claymore with a cloth and sheathing sheathed it so it was stripped to his back again. His sand brown cloak concealed his entire statue. When he turned Rasler could see that his eyes were of a golden color but not warm and friendly like he assumed the eyes of his savior would be, but cold and guarded.

"Are you unharmed?"

To the boys shock the voice was very high, almost shrill and didn't suit the distanced teen at all. It took Rasler a second to notice that the lips of the foreigner hadn't moved, so he looked around in search of the actual speaker. Turning right his vision was suddenly filled with light brown fur. With a shout the prince crawled backwards. At the proper distance he could identify the ball of fluff to be a moogle fluttering on eye level.

"Oh, did I scare you? I'm sorry." the moogle stammered, landing on the ground two feet away.

"Are you okay? That sure was a vicious beast." she inquired again. It had to be a girl judging by the pink gown she was wearing. At last the boy found his voice again, albeit a little shaky.

"I-I think. I'm not hurt."

"That's good to hear. I'm glad." the moogle beamed at him like she didn't smell the stench emanating from the corpse. "Do you think you can walk? We shouldn't linger. The body will definitely attract other monsters."

So she did notice the smell after all. With a grunt Rasler came to his feet.

"I should thank you, sir. You both. You saved my life. And how you slayed slew the malboro with only one blow. That was incredible!"

Rasler couldn't help but get excited. He couldn't hold a sword even if his life depended on it. But deep down he wanted to learn how to fight, wanted to swing such a sword with such little effort like the teen must've done it, though he regrettably hadn't seen it.

In his musings he just registered now that the other didn't responded at all except for crossing his arms in front of his chest. On cue the moogle fluttered up again to rest on the teens right shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Edward doesn't speak the common tongue." she said sheepishly. "I'll translate."

And she chatted away in a strange language that seemingly consisted mostly of clicking sounds. When Edward eventually answered he did so with a dark and slightly scratchy voice which suited him much more. Judging by how little he spoke compared to the moogle Rasler deemed it save to say that the taller was short-spoken even in his own language.

Turning around again the moogle shifted her attention back to Rasler.

"Well~ he says, it was no big deal... something like that." she said and giggled.

"You're not sure?... Erm, I didn't catch your name." the boy asked her hesitantly.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry. I forgot my manners! I'm Parfait. Nice to meet you!" the girl answered embarrassed, sticking out her little paw.

"My name is Rasler." the boy replied and took the offered hand. He shifted his gaze onto the teen, unsure of how to act around him. Should he offer him his hand to him too?

"Erm..."

But Parfait noticed his hesitation.

"Oh, don't mind him, he's different."

Before the boy could answer, they heard a cry of another beast, far too close for comfort. Both Parfait and Rasler flinched. Edward on the other hand just turned and walked away, curiously heading right in the direction of Nabudis. After exchanging a look with Parfait, Rasler swiftly followed them.


	2. Chapter 2

It was quiet. A deadly silence that always occured when a predator was near. Apparently it was attracted by the still warm corpse of a recently slaughtered beast that lay between the trees. Four legs carried an armoured body anto the path and near the decomposing body. With a pick-like arm it hacked into the flesh, to see if it would miraculously spring to life again. When it stayed dead the antares moved its head closer smelling, to examine its edibilty. But the thing didn't only smell of rott, but of hume and fear, too. The insect reared its head to survey its surroundings, but found nothing out of the ordinary. So it attended to the corpse again, starting to cut it to palatable pieces.

Only one or two miles away a group of three sneaked their way through the undergrowth. Even though they tried to make as less noise as possible, the occational snap of a twig or shuffle of feet through the dead leaves that littered the ground could be heard. The first in line, a teenager who himself didn't make any sound at all, inwardly flinched with every noise that came from the boy behind him. Though you coulcn't see his wearyness, the moogle seated on his shoulder knew him well enough. The tense muscles on his yaw and the occational heave of his ribcage followed by a long exhale, told her enough. She knew her companion wasn't used to such careless trudge. She herself mostly travelled on his shoulder or took use of her wings on short distances.

Parfait turned her attention back to the boy. By now they should have left the danger zone.

"Rasler?" she asked hesitantly, still checking on the mood of her carrier.

"Yeah?" the boy acknowledged her.

"You aren't really used to trekking through the woods, are you?" the moogle inquired, letting her head sway to one side.

"What gives you that impression? I'm here in the forest pretty often." Rasler replied, stepping on another twig which broke easily under his weight.

"Well~... You pretty much snapped every stick that lay on our path. It's a miracle that no monster noticed us yet." she stated matter-of-factly.

Hearing that Rasler stopped, embarrassed. "... Oh. Sorry." The prince moved on, this time checking his path and stepping over the hindrances that littered the ground.

"It's no problem. No harm done." Parfait answered smiling. "Maybe you just need a little bit more experience."

Rasler thought about that. Though he usually never made quite the ruckus with all his stone kicking like today, he hadn't really taken notice on how he moved through the forest until now.

"What about you? You seem to be used to travelling." the boy asked his company.

"Oh, we've been on the road for a while now, seeing places. Edward never came around much when he was younger." the moogle offered. "I've never been to the Salikawoods myself. It's really beautiful here."

"Yeah, if you avoid the monsters." Rasler grumbled.

"Yes, that's true." Parfait answered. "But I'm not worried about my well-being. Edward protects me." she smiled at the thought of her companion. The teen would never allow someone or something to hurt her. Even though they hadn't exactly hit it off right when they first met. Edward even tried to shoot her with his bow, because he thought she was something to eat. But they eventually became friends and now they were all they had left.

Rasler watched his savior thoughtfully as the teen swiftly walked across the woods, successfully avoiding every stick and heap of leaves seemingly without even noticing. The boy had to admit that the other was graceful and steady in every movement he made, while he himself was just clumsy.

He looked back to the moogle again who herself was studying her surroundings intently.

"Parfait?" he tried to get her attention. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." the girl replied. Turning around she smiled at him warmly.

"Do you know if Edward would maybe teach me how to fight?"

After hearing his name, said teen halted and eyed the boy suspiciously while Parfait adorably blinked at him.

"Come again?" she asked him after a moment. "Aren't you a bit young to think about such things?"

Rasler frowned at her.

Why? To be that awesome he must've started much earlier with training." he replied throwing is head in Edwards direction.

"Sure, but like I said, he's special." she answered. "He grew up in a tribe that asks that of their offspring. Your kind on the other hand tends to let their kids at least have a semblance of childhood. Why'd you want to waste precious playtime for combat training?" Parfait asked the boy incredulously.

"Because I already get trained, more or less. Though I have the feeling that my current teacher only uses me as anger management. And if you hadn't rescued me, I would be dead now, because I can't even left a sword properly." the boy replied heatedly. Was he asking that much? Well maybe, considering the teen just saved his life, seemingly escorted him to Nabudis, too. And now they should sacrifice their time to try to teach a lost cause in fighting?

Parfait on the other hand just stared at him open-mouthed.

"What kind of family are you coming from that you have to learn fighting at such a young age?" she asked him bewildered.

Edward was losing his patience at being apparently talked about but left out, considering he crossed his arms again and a scowl was forming on his features. A development Parfait was most aware of.

"Erm, my father may be the king of Nabradia." he answered embarrassed. Venturing on "He likes his children to be prepared for the future." He looked down now, shuffling with his feet in the dirt.

"What?!" the moogle squeaked, more so than usual.

"Parfait." Edward stated, his voice dangerously low and his gaze scathing.

Said moogle flinched. She wasn't prepared for her companion to snap at that moment of all things. The girl turned to him and began to speak rapidly in this strange tongue again. Apparently she was filling him in on their conversation. The teen let her speak, not interrupting her even once.

But after a while he lifted one eyebrow and eyed Rasler again, looking him up and down. Then he snorted and resumed his way through the forest.

Parfait flew up and towards the boy who stood there gaping at the blond.

"It seems he isn't very fond of the prospect of having a student." the girl said apologetically.

They followed the older both lost in their thoughts. Rasler was disappointed that he still had to put up with Malek and his mood swings while Parfait searched of a way to change her friend's opinion. The more she thought about Rasler's plea the more she liked it, though it would be more for her gain than the boys.

"It is a shame." she said after a while. "That would be a perfect opportunity for Edward to learn the common tongue."

Rasler turned to her listening intently. Though he didn't want to, he was getting his hopes up.

"Maybe if he could actually understand other people, he would get more social, instead of avoiding civilization like the plague." she mused.

"So you're just crossing the countryside, not the cities?" Rasler asked baffled.

"Yes, pretty much." the moogle answered and shrugged her tiny shoulders.

By that time they finally caught up to Edward who was ignoring them like before. Parfait was holding her chin in thought studying her friend. Then she looked at Rasler with glinting eyes and a smile on her lips that told him she was definitely up to something. She flew onto the older boy's shoulder to talk to him again. Edward acknowledged her with a sideway glance but kept walking.

Wondering what that was about, Rasler watched them closely in hopes of following their conversation through reading their body language.

The moogle seemed to be pretty excited, though Edward was apparently barely interested in what she had to say, only answering with a single word that suspiciously was always the same. Whatever Parfait was proposing, the answer was probably 'No'.

Sighing the girl looked back to Rasler, still talking to the teen. Edward followed her gaze, a doubtful frown adorning his face. Looking back to the fur ball on his shoulder he answered her at last in a full sentence. She took off his shoulder while he was rummaging under his coat, extracting a second sword Rasler hadn't noticed on the teen up until now. Turning fully towards the boy, Edward held out the weapon.

Astonished Rasler took a hesitant step towards the older. But in that moment the teen threw the blade at him, knocking him effectively off his feet.

Edward who was already unsheathing his claymore, froze mid-movement and stared at the boy. Sighing, he let his blade glide back into its sheath and stepped up to the boy to relieve him of the steel that trapped him to the ground. With a last mumble to Parfait he walked forth in the direction of Nabudis, whose walls came slowly into view.

The boy, still laying on the ground, his upper body propped up by his arms behind him, blinked flabbergasted at the older male. He looked at the girl for an explanation what the teen was on about, but she only shrugged her shoulders.

"'Tomorrow' he says." With that Parfait took flight towards her friend, halting only for a moment to wait for him to follow them. With a grunt Rasler righted himself and walked up to her. Together they resumed their trek back to the capital.

"So, what does that mean?" the boy inquired after a moment. "Will he teach me?"

The moogle studied Edward for some time. "We'll see." she answered after a while, not letting her eyes stray from their target. "I think, first, he will test you. To evaluate, if you are worth his time." Parfait finished cryptically.

While listening to the moogle, Rasler's heart sank. He had to proof himself to them? How should he manage that? He was straight clumsy and unfocused most of the time. They had experienced that first hand.

His thoughts must have showed on his face, because suddenly the moogle filled his whole vision, smiling at him. "Don't worry." she tried to assure him. "He must have seen something in you. Otherwise he never would have given you any chance in the first place." She took off to land on Edward's shoulder again, like she belonged there. And maybe, Rasler mused, that was true. Like the moogle was the teen's conscience, guarding over the well-being of his soul. With a glance over her shoulder and a nod forward she signaled for him to start walking again.

After a moment the boy followed them, even quickened his gait to take the lead, because now they neared the city walls and only Rasler knew where to find the hidden entry to the secret passage.

When it came finally into view, Edward stopped. Rasler mimicked him though he looked rather puzzled, letting his gaze wander back and forth between the teen and the gap in the wall that was nearly completely hidden by a curtain of vines. But after thinking about it, he understood.

"He really won't set foot into a city, will he?" he asked Parfait.

She shook her head. "I tried once. But I don't want to remember that fiasco." she laughed embarrassed, absentmindedly scratching her cheek.

Rasler nodded. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?" the boy inquired hesitantly.

Parfait exchanged a few words with the teen, then she shifted her attention back to the prince.

"'We'll meet here at dawn.' he says. 'Don't be late'" the girl translated for him.

"Okay." the boy replied, now grinning from one ear to the other. "Until tomorrow, then. See you!" With that last parting the boy disappeared into the depths of the tunnel that would led him back home.

Edward turned and took off back into the forest, the moogle close on his heels. With a last flutter of her little wings she took her place on his shoulder again.

"So~" the girl started after a while, snapping the blond out of his thoughts. "Why did you change your mind? I know I can't sway you point of view, if you don't want me to." she asked him in his language.

Edward stayed quiet, eyes focused ahead on the path. At last, when Parfait thought, he wouldn't answer her, he finally spoke. "He reminds me of myself, when I was younger." he said.

Parfait blinked owlishly at him. "So once you were that clumsy, too?" She couldn't help but snicker at that thought.

The teen on the other hand rolled with his eyes, adopting an irritated frown on his features.

"Shut up." he told her, but it just made her laugh even harder.


End file.
